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The biggest hurdle to using video in e-mail marketing campaigns is a lack of video content, but overcoming common concerns regarding costs may be worth it. According to a February survey from The Relevancy Group, 55% of marketers using video in their e-mails saw higher click-thru rates. More than 40% said video increased the amount of time subscribers spent reading the e-mail and increased the likelihood the e-mail would be shared.

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To give marketing e-mails a more social flavor, use your e-mails to repurpose the content your brand posts to Facebook and Twitter to give subscribers a second look at what you've created, writes David DeVore. It's important to include user-generated content such as testimonials or recommendations, and invite subscribers to share their own comments and feedback, he adds.

Marketers should be combining content and event marketing, Mykel Nahorniak writes. That tactic can connect offline activity to online content such as in an online event calendar or lead to e-mails as a follow-up reinforcement of a marketing event. Think of the event itself as a form of content. "Communicating key highlights of your organization's culture and goals through event listings can help you attract prospective leads and customers," Nahorniak writes.

E-mail remains the most effective tool available to online marketers, according to an ExactTarget report. Almost 7 in 10 consumers check e-mail before engaging in any other online activity each day, and about 1 in 3 consumers say marketers should be investing more in e-mail outreach.

Business-to-business marketer Ragan Communications successfully used video for content marketing efforts as an alternative to text-only or text-and-graphics e-mails. The company promoted marketing-event registration by sending e-mails with screen shots, little copy and links to a landing page embedded with video. While text-only e-mails still enjoyed slightly higher average open rate, the average click-thru rate was much lower, only .25%, whereas e-mails with videos embedded on separate landing pages had an average CTR of .51%.

Social media and mobile may get more of marketers' attention, but e-mail is still an important platform, studies show. More than 9 in 10 Internet users have e-mail accounts, and 60% use them on a daily basis and e-mail can actually increase the effectiveness of other platforms, experts say. "For marketers trying to reach consumers, e-mail remains one of the best ways to find them," this article notes.